That’s just some of the inane gibberish you’ll see posted all over social media 24/7, so you couldn’t be blamed for seeing it as a wall for the dreary graffiti of the mundane. It has though, the capability to be so much more than that. When approached appropriately and embraced in friendly informal arms, it can be a powerful means of cheap or even free advertising and product awareness.

Let me hit you with some numbers.

There are 200 million Google searches per day.

The more social media you use, the higher up these searches you appear.

Companies with little or no social media presence saw an average annual decline in sales of -6%

Companies with a large social media presence saw an average annual growth in sales of 18%

Today’s society is, like it or not, inextricably linked with computers and the internet. Our children are becoming computer cultured even before they can read, and schools now use computer devices more than they do chalkboards. When we do learn to read, more people today prefer eBooks than paper books. Paper is becoming the cumbersome stone tablets of the past. Social life has transformed too, and an astounding 1 in every 8 married couples met online. Our modern world revolves around our smart phones, and our computers. Those not implementing social media into their business strategy are wasting a huge opportunity for growth.

Let me hit you with a few more numbers.

90% of people trust peer recommendations.

76% of people trust customer recommendations.

86% of people DON’T trust traditional advertising.

Many companies, big and small alike, are becoming progressively aware of the impact that social media can have on their business, and are now even incorporating those famous social media logos into their packaging. For the customer, this means a more accessible interaction, a friendlier presence, and product confidence. For the brewery this means enhanced brand awareness, rapid consumer feedback and a strong customer loyalty. There is also a vast potential to reach an immense number of prospective buyers. For instance, the launch of the Ford Explorer on Facebook got more views than the largest Super Bowl TV Ad ever. TV commercials are only there for the ad break minutes in which prospective trade usually runs to the kitchen to grab another brewery’s beer. A YouTube video however, is a permanent fixture and has a huge potential audience.

More numbers.

YouTube is the 2nd most used search engine in the world

Over 800 million users visit YouTube every month

Only 18% of TV campaigns generate a positive return on the original investment.

YouTube is experiencing exponential growth in popularity. There are more and more HD quality videos being uploaded and now even 3D videos, and live broadcasts. A much more solid brand awareness choice for a brewery is a YouTube beer review video. It is a permanent fixture, and will pop up every time a search for your product or a similar product is performed. This YouTube video can then be included on websites, and posted onto numerous other social media sites. For instance, a YouTube video link posted in the CAMRA Facebook page alone will reach over 10,000 prospective customers. That’s 10,000 targeted people interested in British ‘Craft Beer’ and Real Ale in just one mouse click, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Finally let me leave you with just a few more numbers.

800 million people are on Facebook.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd most populated in the world.

The founding fathers of America were planning to land The Mayflower and settle further south in warmer climates, but instead chose Plymouth Rock because they had run out of beer. —- I wonder who owned the liquor store.

George Washington owned his own brewery. —- Is that The First Lady? No, its the thirst, lady.

At any given time, an estimated 0.7% of the whole world is drunk. —- I’ll drink to that! HIC!

The American National Anthem, ‘The Star Spangled Banner’, was originally an old English drinking song from a famous London men’s club. It was previously called ‘To Anacreon In Heaven’ and the original words were a dedication to the ancient Greek bard that wrote songs and poetry celebrating booze, women and song. —- I’ll drink to that. HIC!

In medieval England, beer was served up along with breakfast. —- I’ll HIC to that! Drink!

Sister Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179), was not only the first person to add hops to beer; she was also a medic, philosopher, composer, poet, adviser to the Pontif, Kings, and other dignitaries. She was one of the first to champion women’s rights and surprisingly wrote the first literature on the female orgasm. —- She was Nun of this, Nun of that, and Nun of the other.

The oldest brewery still brewing is The Weihenstephan Abbey in Germany. It has been producing beer for almost 1000 years, and is still brewing beers right up to the present day, though it is no longer officially an abbey. —- Brewing for 1000 years? That brew’s ready by now, surely!

In brewery abbeys during the middle ages, fasting monks were allowed to drink five quarts of beer per day. Thats nearly 5 Litres! Give us this day our liquid bread. 5-a-day. —- That many liquid toasts is one unholy hangover.

Ancient Babylonians were so fastidious about maintaining good standards in beer quality, that any brewers producing naff beer were drowned in it. —- Far too lenient.

Inca tribes women brew a form of beer called Chicha. It is made from corn, and uses the salivary amylase enzyme from, yes, salivar to break down those corn starches. The village women chew the corn and then SPIT it into the mash tun, their saliva helps to convert the corns starches into fermentable sugars. —- Sounds delightful.

The waged Egyptian pyramid builders were paid partly in the liquid bread that is beer. It was called “kash” and this is where the word “cash” originates. —- What would you like Kash or Czech?

Bass beers triangle logo was the worlds first trademark. A devoted Bass employee stayed all night outside the registrar’s office on New Years Eve 1876, just so that Bass would be first in the queue when the office opened in the morning. This famous logo can be seen in paintings by Manet and Picasso. —- That beats TV advertising for panache.

Olde world English drinkers would often bring their own beer tankards to the pub. Some had whistles in the handles so that, in rowdy bars, the drinker could get the attention of the bar staff. Hence the term for having a beer is “Wetting your whistle.” —- I prefer drowning my whistle.

In 1814, an exploding beer vat destroyed a brewery and two homes. 100,000 gallons of beer flooded the neighbouring London streets and several unfortunate people lost their lives. —- Puts a whole new meaning to having a head on your beer.

Guinness scientists state that a pint of beer is lifted about ten times, and each time about 0.56 ml is lost in the drinkers facial hair. In fact, Britain alone loses 92,749 litres of beer each year in moustaches and beards. —- That is why I always wring my beard out before leaving my glass.

Stella Artois used to simply be called ‘Artois’. It acquired the added ‘Stella’ (meaning Star) because that was the name of their popular Christmas beer. —- They wished it could be Chrisrmas everyday. Going by there sales figures, it has been.

The Scaffold’s hit song, ‘Lily The Pink’ was about the supposed effect of hallucinations from alcoholism (pink elephants). One of the songs vocalists was Sir Tim Rice, famous lyricist from Broadway to Disney. Luckily, his one a only foray into singing. —- Don’t call us, we’ll call you.

In 1948, the Luxembourg branch of Alcoholics Anonymous had only 2 members. —- Something tells me there were other alcoholics about, but they were far from anonymous.

The 1974 annual dinner and dance for the Belfast branch of Alcoholics Anonymous turned into a massive punch up after bar staff had served the recovering alcoholics nearly £400 worth of booze. —- Anyone for punch?

The song says, “Underneath the arches, I dream my dreams away”, but the bass rumblings of the London tube line trains over these arches, sounds more like an anachronistic prelude, heralding the exciting brews to come. This embryonic brewery, set in a throbbing railway arch, in the throbbing heart of London, will be opening its curtains in May to the tympanic Fanfare of the Hackney Common Man, preceding, not pipe dreams, but hopefully, the pipeline to success.

OK, before I carry on with my inane dribbling and scribbling, some introductions are in order. Owner/Brewers, Pete and Jon have been lifelong friends and have been homebrewing all-grain beers since they were in short trousers, and brewing quality beer is a love that has never left them. Confucius said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work in your life.” Well, they have worked hard within the beer industries for a long while but never at the tiller of their own vessels. Soon though, they will be charting the course of their own four fermenting vessels through the stormy seas of today’s ebullient brewing climate. They may have a finger on the pulse when it comes to the future of the British beer industry, but they also have a passionately nostalgic feel for centuries of time-honoured pure all-grain brewing.

Hackney Brewery will be launching the first of their quality beers this May 2012, starting with a Great British classic style, Best Bitter.